optional blood panel?

When I dropped off Nola to be spayed this morning. I signed the waiver and they offered me an optional 40 dollar blood panel to check liver and kidney function before putting her under anesthesia. I didn't have an extra 40 dollars, so I had to decline.

What my question is. Do any of your vets offer this? How necessary do you think it is? It seems a little weird that they would just spring it on me last minute. But then again Ive never brought a pet in for surgery before.

Most vets will either offer it or include it in the total surgery price.
The blood panel is done to ensure there are no underlying issues which would make it a bad idea to put an animal under using traditional anesthesia.
If such issues are known, then they will usually not proceed until a phone consult and notifying you of your options (usually to use a gas anesthetic instead).

All that said, in a young, healthy cat, such problems are not common.

I usually recommend that if you can afford it, you should do it. You never know if there is an underlying liver or kidney problem that might cause problems with anethesia or during the surgery, and it would be better to find out before rather than during. My vet offered it when I made the appointment to get my Chay done, and since I had the money I did it. But that is partially because some Birman lines are known to have problems with anethesia, and I wanted to be extra careful.

Plus, it gives you a baseline blood panel from when your cat was (hopefully) young and healthy that you can use to compare to any test results later on in life. Take me, for instance. We found out I had high platelets a few years ago, but because that was the first time (to my knowledge) that we'd had a blood count done, we don't know if this is a problem, or if I'm just naturally that way.

However, like Arlyn said, problems are rare in young cats, so don't feel like you did a bad thing for not being able to afford to get the test done. Better she get spayed without the blood panel, than not spayed at all!

My vet offers this as well. They recommend it, but you are able to opt out. Mine is subtantially more than $40 though...and includes an ECG. I'm pretty sure for the kittens, their pre-op screening was more than that spay itself (which was $112)!

It is similar to humans. Usually when you have a procedure requiring anesthesia, the doctor will order blood work prior to it.

Since Zoey just passed away from illness (not at all related to anesthesia), I've been very paranoid about these kittens and wanted some baseline blood work done anyway. So, I without a question paid for the blood work. However, I know of lots of animals who have done just fine without! It was more of my peace of mind than anything else!

ditto to above - when I brought my five year old male in for a dental cleaning, they offered to do a panel for the vet to review prior to surgery. It was recommended, but not mandated in my boy's case. I had it done, both for a base line and then just in case there was any condition that might preclude the cleaning. I think it was like $35-40.

I agree in a young healthy cat, it's a nice thing to do, but not vital. In an older cat, I'd definitely try to have it done.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your baby.

My vet offers it. I've always had it done, and couldn't imagine not taking that extra precaution. I talked to one vet, and they don't even give you an option, they just do it.

My previous Vet never even mentioned it before I had my cats spayed or neutered at about 6 months of age. My new Vet does offer it. I think it's a good idea..just for a baseline comparison....in case of trouble down the road. I'm going to have Samson have a blood panel done at 1 yr of age as well..again just for a comparison. I'll probably have it done every 3 to 4 years after that if he remains otherwise healthy.

I lost Max at 5 yrs old having never had any blood work...so it was hard to know what was 'normal' for him. The Vet never did figure out what happened....

It's about the same cost as a night out at the movies with popcorn and drink.....so that tells you how expensive that little venture is...

My Vet offered it and I am glad they did because if Coco had been fixed it would have killed her. She was young then and is 16 now. The Vet told me if her bladder stones did not disolve we would have had a huge problem because surgery isnt safe for her at all. My Cats always get a blood panel before they get fixed.